Struggling White House hopeful Chris Christie will score a major coup this coming week: endorsements from a planeload of Iowa Republicans who pleaded with him to run for president in 2012 but whose interest in his 2016 candidacy had seemed to fade.

Six of the seven Iowans who hopped into agribusiness millionaire Bruce Rastetter's private jet last election cycle for a recruitment mission to the governor's mansion in New Jersey are scheduled to reveal on Tuesday that they're publicly backing Christie again, several sources told The Des Moines Register.

The Christie fans' effort sparked national fireworks in the 2012 presidential race because it represented the discontent some establishment Republicans felt with then-front-runner Mitt Romney.

This time, the news will be a blow to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Florida U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, two other establishment candidates who have been scrambling to lock up business Republicans in Iowa. Bush has shown some success, rolling out a list of 30 prominent Iowa business leaders, and a separate list of 30 ag industry leaders. Rubio held some well-attended events in Iowa this past week after a much-praised debate performance.

It's unclear how much Christie's flagging popularity in Iowa will be revived by the endorsement from Rastetter, the CEO of Summit Group, a multinational agriculture and energy corporation; Gary Kirke, a casino and real estate developer; Mike Richards, a physician and business investor; Dennis Elwell, a real estate entrepreneur; former state Sen. Jim Kersten; and political operative and lobbyist Mikel Derby.

The seventh, retired insurance executive Cameron Sutton, is remaining neutral because he has since taken a job as a top staffer for Iowa U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst.

“I think what it will do is elevate him somewhat in Iowa,” Elwell told the Register on Saturday. “He probably needs a shot in the arm in Iowa, although he’s not that far behind.”

Elwell said he didn’t intend to get active in the 2016 race until later, but “Christie’s going to need his people to be counted, so that’s the reason I wanted to step up.”

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The group includes some of Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad's biggest financial donors. Rastetter is a wealthy contributor whom Branstad named to the board that oversees the state's public university system.

Christie had already snagged a well-respected team of Iowa operatives to guide his campaign here, including Branstad campaign veterans Jeff Boeyink, Jake Ketzner and Phil Valenziano, who are working to convert the Branstad network into a Christie organization for the Iowa caucuses Feb. 1.

"It's possible it could trigger some people to give him a second look," Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Jeff Kaufmann told the Register.

Kaufmann noted that Christie has been a rather infrequent visitor to Iowa. He has spent 15 days campaigning in Iowa since the 2012 cycle, ranking 12th among major Republicans competing here. (Rick Santorum leads the way at 55 days.)

And polling shows Christie is one of the least popular in the current field of 15 GOP contenders. A Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics Iowa Poll in late August found Christie in 10th place with 2 percent, down from 4 percent in late May. Christie has been more focused on campaigning in New Hampshire, and his super PAC has already spent over $2 million there and plans to spend another $6.5 million, according to news reports, but has failed to invest any money in Iowa television ads.

This team of Iowa GOP influencers won't necessarily sway the opinions of rank-and-file Iowa voters, but several have ties to GOP fundraising networks. The news of their endorsements will make a splash in the national political news, which could then prompt caucusgoers to reconsider Christie, who is coming off what many Republicans considered a strong performance in the Sept. 16 prime time debate.

Christie rose to seventh in the national horse race rankings compiled by RealClearPolitics.com, up from 10th place before the debate.

New York businessman Donald Trump is the strong front-runner in Iowa, followed by retired doctor Ben Carson. Down in the middle of the pack are Texas U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, former tech company executive Carly Fiorina, Rubio and Bush.

Back in May 2011, the Iowa draft-Christie team wasn't able to crack his resistance to running. They were enamored with him because, as Kirke put it, "he's a get-in-your-face type of guy. Real leadership and no B.S."

Since then, Christie was the topic of a slew of negative news coverage related to bellicose outbursts and a political retribution scandal. The so-called "Bridgegate" controversy centered on the decision by some of his political associates to orchestrate the closure of the heavily trafficked George Washington Bridge to cause headaches for political rivals.

Even though Christie was more popular in the polls in 2012 as a rising star in the party, he doesn't regret not running four years ago. "I'm now battle-tested for Washington," he told the Register in July. "I was not then, so no, I do not have any regrets about that."

A softer, gentler but equally determined Christie has been trying to regenerate his reputation in Iowa amid the large field of GOP candidates. He tells stories on the campaign trail here about his dying mother's words of inspiration, while still portraying himself as that same blunt-talking truth teller who caught Iowans' fancy last cycle.

The draft-Christie team splintered in 2012 once the field was set. Sutton and Kersten went with Newt Gingrich. Kirke endorsed then-Texas Gov. Rick Perry. Elwell and Derby backed Romney. Rastetter flirted with endorsing Romney and Gingrich.

This cycle, Derby and Kersten rekindled their support for Christie, and have been public about that for months.

“I’ve always felt he was the strongest candidate and his type of leadership is what we needed,” Derby told the Register. “I felt that in ’12 and ’11 and I feel that now. He gets stuff done with Democrats in a blue state. What more can you ask in such a divided nation?”

But it's a new development for the others to pledge support again.

Rastetter had so far remained neutral as he has sought to ratchet up his influence in the election process. He hosted a new "agriculture summit" in March, bringing a dozen candidates on stage with him one at a time to question them about ethanol policy, wind energy and other farm issues. For years, he has hosted an invitation-only summer party at his rural spread in Hardin County. This year, he attracted Christie, Bush and former New York Gov. George Pataki.

Christie has scheduled at least four visits to Iowa this year to court Rastetter, most recently at the Iowa State Fair, when he bartended at Kirke's fairgrounds pub, Jalapeno Pete's, and stopped by Rastetter's fairgrounds campsite for a private party.